Mr. Speaker, the Quebec referendum debate will have had the side effect of encouraging the people of other Canadian provinces to express the heartfelt feelings they harbour toward Quebec.

For more than a week now, hearts in all of Canada beat in time with those in Quebec. This harmony of thoughts and feelings reached its peak with the monster rally last Friday in Montreal.

There was only one message to be delivered at that rally, and I believe that it was: our brothers and sisters in the other provinces understand and love us. They do not want to see their country broken apart, and they cannot imagine a Canada without Quebec.

By voting no this evening, the men and women of Quebec will allow us to continue this great adventure of tolerance and openness. My wish on this October 30, 1995 is: long life to Quebec, long life to Canada.

Mr. Speaker, China is now in the process of applying for membership in the World Trade Organization, an application which the Liberal government supports in spite of China's appalling record on human rights and labour rights.

The WTO does not have any rules regarding labour rights, despite the efforts of the NDP working alongside many labour movements, social democratic parties and others around the world. To join, China must therefore prove it will respect foreign investors' intellectual property rights but not the rights of many child labourers, prison labourers and conscript labourers who suffer in China's unregulated labour market.

Trade will improve human rights in countries like China if and only if international trade rules offer the same protection for the human rights of citizens and workers as they do for the rights of investors.

I call on the government to take the lead internationally in making China's membership in the WTO conditional on the respect for basic labour rights.

The good news is that Bounjan Inthavong, that bad guy from Laos who participated in the murder of young Kirby Martin by beating him with a baseball bat has been deported. The minister of immigration assisted me in that deportation and I thank him for that. I hope the next time it will not take a year and a half to get his act in gear.

The bad news is that there are many more to deport, like Karel Kral and Hector Lopez. Standing in the way of these deportations is an inept, incompetent refugee board.

Most Canadians do not know this but these refugee boards are not required to look at criminal convictions of non-Canadians at refugee hearings, only the consequences of sending them back to the receiving countries-

Mr. Speaker, my statement today is that of millions of Canadians across this country. It is as follows:

O Canada! Our home and native land! True patriot love in all thy sons command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

Mr. Speaker, regardless of the outcome of the Quebec referendum, Canada must go on with important changes in the federal system. The priorities of the Canadian people must be met. The federal debt has risen to over $560 billion. Canadians are staggering under an oppressive tax burden. Our health care system is on the critical list. Canadians are increasingly concerned about their public safety.

My question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. Is the government willing to make changes, real changes, in these important areas to prepare Canada for the 21st century?

Mr. Speaker, we saw on Friday and again throughout the weekend the power that Canadians can exert when they work together. Tens of thousands of Canadians joined together in a common cause and voiced a common concern. They want a united country and a Canada that is open to change. On that point I think I can speak for every member of this House when I say that we love this country and we will fight for change within a united Canada.

Is the government prepared to invite greater public input and greater public participation, like we saw on the weekend, in developing and implementing a Canadian agenda for change?

Mr. Speaker, certainly we can agree with the Reform Party on one point. The show of strength of Canadians from across the country who converged on the city of Montreal to show their solidarity with Quebecers and to show Quebecers that not only is Canada good for Quebec, but Quebec is a very key part of Canada, with that we can certainly agree.

We look for the continued support of the leader of the Reform Party to implement an agenda where Canadians can feel at home in any part of their country, in any language.

Mr. Speaker, in order to address many of the concerns on the Canadian agenda there needs to be a realignment of responsibilities between the federal and provincial governments.

Canadians want the control of the financing of services, like social services that affect their daily lives, to be in the hands of the level of government which is closest to them. They want the federal government to play a co-ordinating role in the establishment of national standards and a stronger role in the area of international trade on which so many jobs and incomes depend.

My question is for the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. In the days following the referendum is the government prepared to fundamentally rethink its relationship with the provinces and realign important federal and provincial responsibilities?

Mr. Speaker, there was one message which came out very loud and clear from the people who gathered in Montreal from every corner of the country. The message was that they were tired of political fights. This was not a discussion among politicians. It was a heart to heart talk among the people of Canada. I personally spoke to a lady in a wheelchair who came

from Peace River, Alberta with her husband. She met me in the elevator and she said:

"Ms. Copps, I do not speak French, but if you could tell Quebecers their being part of this country is important, tell them, because their Canada is my Canada". And that is the message we must give Quebecers today, not the message that Canada does not work. Canada can change. Canada will change. And it will change with the heart of Canada inside it: Quebec.

Mr. Speaker, whatever the outcome of the referendum today, Canada's deficit crisis remains. The difference between the government's spending and revenues is nearly $100 million every 24 hours of every week, of every month, at least for this year.

Can the Minister of Finance assure the people of Canada that whatever the outcome of the referendum, he has decisive plans for the prompt elimination of the deficit?

Mr. Speaker, the government has a clear plan to reduce the deficit and to move from 3 per cent of GDP to a balanced budget. We have followed our plan.

Despite the changes in the economic environment, as the finance minister says, come hell or high water we are going to meet our targets in reducing the deficit. The best way of doing that is what we have done, to keep our feet to the fire with rolling two year targets. We have done that and we are going to continue doing it.